Grain door



Aug. 26 .41924.

L. H. MILLER GRAIN.

noon-Y rma gung 1s. 192s' 2 shuts-sn. z

Inventor Patented Aug. 26; 1924.

LEE H. MILLER, or soar ponen, IOWA.

@RAI-N noos.

Application filed June 18, 1923. Serial No. 646,088.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known lthat I, H. MILLER, a citizen of `the United States, and `alresfigflent of Fo1t'Dodge, in the county of Webster, State of Iowa, have invented aofertaillinevv and useful Grain Door, of vifhielrthe follOrv/ ing is a specification.

',Ifhfe' ob'eot ,of my invention is to provide a efe-ill 0.01" 0f Simple; durable; @dreiei- Parefirely ,inexpensive cs'tufzfon whereby it `may -be manufactured vand nia'riletredfat' 'a compartiyely lowcost. i

LMore particularly, my `inventionrelates to a grain door structure rcomprisiljxg a number of sections, each capable of inovenient dependently of the other Vand ineens' for holding any oneior all of the door seotions in their open position.

Still another object is to provide a lever device secured to the lowermost door, Whioh maybe manipulated for rais'ing'thef'dpor y tilla further object is to provide a latch structure for connecting the door sections together whereby they -may beinoved'asfOne mit f,With these and other objects Lin vievtmy invention consists inV the construction, arrangement andv combination of thevarious parts of my device,u whereby tlie objects contemplated are attained, hereinafter more fully set forth, vpointed ininfy claiins, and illustrated Ain the aoc'empanyling drawings, in which: Figure l is a sideelevation of a portigm of a box car with my improved graindoor structure shown thereon.

Figure 2`is a central, sectional View taken on line 2V-,E2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a detaiLse-ctional view taken on line 3-43 of Figure 1. u Figure 4 is a detail, sectional view taken through arpoirtion of the door sections showing the latch connection.

"Figure 5 is a detail, sectional lview talren on Iineof Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a detail, Side view ,ofonevof the hinge Connections between the slats of the door sections. i `i Figure 7 is a detail, sectional view showing a portion of the lever structure.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Figure 7. i Figure '9 is a detail view of the locking fSldab-y" guio1es`15 and 4Within the pair ofv fuides 416 :are the door sections A, Bfand iings L11 :Secured to the 'inner sides of y.the upriglits 12 er@ the ,posts la.' Thmes' 1,4 arenarrowver thanE the upriglit's' 12'. Fixedto the posts 14 are channelshaped guide 1 '.5 z1'I`ldv1`AV l v i u ,gff

The channel shaped guides l5 and 16 are arra4- ed in pairs, that is, tyvoMch/annel shape guides l54 serve foifone of `thedoor eressleelyedvehanl shaped eides f6 Serve fo'rthe otlierhcll or ope :The 'Channel shpedgides lgarepg d a vertical portion which' restswag'a rist-.lie posts'll ad`jvitl1 a` 'horiz`.ntal poiftic'mas ela'rlysliovvn inFigure iofithe drawings. 'i Horizontal portions the v""uidesl aresupported hy straps 17, vvliic are curedto a cross piece 18 -at their: er ends. 'Tile upper ffree end oif'tlie guides r are"sfeeiiredtomtlie `side of the'box oar, sat "19. A red 'izo excenlds from of the guides 4I5`to` the other `,gguifle'l 'for holdipgtliem properly spaced apart.

" The'guides 1,6"are v4provided with horizontal 'fporthions as y"Well as vertical portions.

Thel horizonte] portionskof tlieguides 16' are arranged below` the 'horizontal 'portions of the guides 15, as clearly shown in Figure 2. VThe"horizontal portions of the V guides 16 are'supported "by stra 5.21 which "are sup- Aported frointhe channel 15.` rod 221,31: the inner ppe'r ends'o-f the guides 1:6, holds them in roper spaced relation.

mounted v'v vithin the pair of l Each seetion is 4composed of ia'plu'rality of slats or narrow `members 23 which -have their ylower'.surfa'f'ees"grooved and tlieupper s urfaces curved so as'to snugly `tit together, as shown in Figure 4 of' the drawings The For connecting the sections A, B, and C together so that they mayl be operated as a unit, I provide coacting l,latch members 28 and 29. The member 28 is pivoted by means of a pin 30t0 a member 31, which Y in turn is secured, to one of the strips 23.

The member 29 is secured'to one of the strips 23 and is pro-vided with4 an opening 32 so thatthe lower end of ,the' latch membe'r 28 may projecttherein for locking the sections together, as clearly shownl in Figure 4 vof thedrawings.` The latch memberA 28 is so arranged that it will normally remain in: locked position.V e U From the construction of the door sections, it will be s een that any one of the sections e may be slid vwithin the channel shaped guides to position where the door openings 11 will be clear. In Figure 2 of the drawings, I have shown one of the sections C in raised position. v 4' Secured to sills 33 are the reinforcing plates 34. The reinforcing plates 34lare rovided with a curved Vportion 35' which ts into the groove of the underside oi the lowermost strip 23. f j. i The sills -33 are each provided with recesses 36 in which is mounted .achannel shaped container 37. The (.zhannel shaped container 37 is secured in position by means of the screws 38, y, e i c,

A` number of rollers,V 3 9 are mountedfon the pins 4U, which. are` journalled in the walls ,ofthe container 37.y y"I he,purpose of the'ro-llers39 will hereinafter more'fully be -set forth. 1 i l V Securedto the lowermostL strip,23 is a lever 41 mounted onthe bolt-42.` 'Ihe lever 41 is provided with a cam surface 43 which is designed to abut against the rollers39 for raising the door sections. i i In: this connection, it `may be mentioned that when the lever 41 is swung to position, shownin dotted lines in Figure 7 of the drawings, it will cause the door sections toberaised.

- .Afclasp `44, shown in Figure v'1 of the drawings, is `used for engagingfthe upper end 'of the lever 41. The upper end of the lever 41 is provided with an opening so that la seal vmay be placed therethrough for seal- ,i n0- the door sections,againstopening. i

he latch members 28Vaiefalso .provided Awith small openings: 45s'o .that a ,seallmay be passed therethrough. i i

In order to hold any of the door sections in their raised position, I provide the iollowing means. Secured to each or' the uprights 1'2 by Ymeans of the bflts 46 is a bar 47.

The bar V47 is provided with a slot 48. The portion of the bar that is provided with a slot 48 is offset so as to be spaced from the upright 12.

A pair of levers '49 and 50 are secured to the bar 47 by means of the bolts 51 and 52. The bolt 52is mounted in the slot 48 and is capable of travelling therein.

The louter free ends of the levers 49 and 5() are joined together by means of a bolt 53.` The lever 49 is slightly curved, as shown in Figure'Q.

'Ihe pair of levers 49 and 50, when in the position shownin Figure 9, will project into thepath of movement of the door sections andprevent the vdoor sections from moving downwardly.

In ,order to clear the levers 49 and 50 from the door opening. it is necessary to slide the bolt 52 in the slot 48, thus bringing the lower endl of the shown in Figure 9, in dotted lines.

It will be seen that I have provided a very eliicient means for holding the door sections in their raised position. My structure can be used for grain doors or other buildings.

Some changes may be made in the con struction and arrangement of the various parts `of 'my invention without departing from the'real spirit and purpose of my inlever 49 to the position vention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or u'seo-f mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim asV my invention: LgfIn a Vdevice of the class described in combination Vwith a door opening, a pair ot channel shaped guide members arranged adjacent to the sides of thedoor opening, said guide members having their yupper ends 'curved away from the door opening, a pluralitybfdoor sections slidably mounted in said guide members, each door section being independent of the others and each door section comprising aV number of slats hingedly them to slide in the curved portions of the 'guide members, a lever securedto the lower section for assisting in the raising thereof, and locking meansfor holding said door sections in open position, said channel e shaped guide members arranged adjacent to the sides of the door opening,

connected together for permitting vlocking means including a pair of pivoted levers,

said guide members having their upper ends curved away from the door opening, a pluiality of door sections slidably mounted in said guide members. each door sect-ion being independent of the other and each door section comprising a number of slats hingedly connected together for permitting them to slide in the curved portions of the guide members, a lever secured to the lower section for assisting in the raising thereof, and locking means for holding said door sections in open position, said locking means including a pair of levers, one of Which is slidably mounted, said levers having their free ends pivoted together, said pair of 15 levers when in one position being arranged to project out into the door opening and when in another position to permit the door to be moved independently thereof.

Des Moines, Iowa, March 19, 1923.

LEE H. MILLER. 

